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Doubts dog plan for giant retailer
By BRIDGET HALL GRUMET, Times Staff Writer LECANTO -- To date, it may be the best proposed site for a large retail center south of Crystal River. There are just a few acres of wetlands and an estimated 14 feet between the water table and the surface, both improvements over other U.S. 19 tracts. But several members of the county's Planning and Development Review Board questioned Thursday whether the 27-acre tract at the southeast corner of U.S. 19 and W Penn Drive, even with these advantages over previously proposed sites, is suitable for a 200,000-square-foot, unnamed commercial giant. For example, there are 3.86 acres of wetlands on this site, compared with 18.1 acres of wetlands on developer RealtiCorp's previous site at U.S. 19 and W Venable Street, across from Home Depot. Planning board member Marion Knudsen wondered, however, whether the cypress-treed lowlands on the new site are wetlands that have evaporated during the drought. "In years past, people may have looked at it and seen things we don't know about that were there then that aren't there now," Knudsen said. That issue was one of several raised Thursday as the planning board discussed two rezoning requests and a proposed master plan for the no-name mega-store. The planning board will make a recommendation May 16 and send the plans to the County Commission for a final vote. Loys Ward, director of project development for South Carolina-based RealtiCorp, said his company is negotiating with "a large retailer" that he cannot name until the contract is final. In recent years, Wal-Mart has shown interest in two nearby sites for a Supercenter, including the last RealtiCorp site one block north, but plans for both sites fell through because of environmental limitations. Wal-Mart officials have not said whether the retail giant is interested in the Penn Drive tract. The property would also include two outlying parcels along U.S. 19 for businesses such as a bank or fast-food restaurant, Ward said. If approved, he said, construction could begin as early as January and take about a year. The 400-foot-wide strip fronting U.S. 19 is already zoned for commercial use. RealtiCorp is asking the county rezone the adjoining 9 acres, located in an "infill area" where commercial growth is encouraged, from low-density residential to general commercial. The second rezoning request deals with the rear 9 acres, located outside the commercial infill area, which would also need to be changed from low-density residential to general commercial. County planners recommend approval of the entire project. "Basically if the board is inclined to allow a large retail project in the Crystal River area, this would be the most suitable site because the property has the least environmental constraints," county principal planner Jenette Collins said. As part of the master plan, RealtiCorp would dedicate two tracts of wetlands -- 22 acres to the north and 4.5 acres to the east -- as conservation areas that could not be developed. RealtiCorp would also donate land for a 60-foot-wide access road linking W Penn Drive to W Venable Street, although it is unclear whether the county or the developer would build the road. "We think we've done our homework here," said Clark Stillwell, the attorney representing RealtiCorp. "We think we're consistent with the (comprehensive) plan; we think it's going to meet a public need." Planning board member James Kellner agreed: "I feel it's the best of the locations in that area." But planning board members Miles Blodgett and Raymond Hughes joined Knudsen in questioning whether the site has wetlands that have dried up in the drought, but could return when the rains do. "I'm just wondering if we got a true depiction if what was in this area," Hughes said. Even if this site is better than other sites, ecology-minded residents such as Janet Masaoy, chairwoman of the Citizens Opposed to the Suncoast Tollway, oppose plans for a giant retailer there. "That does not mean it is an appropriate project in an appropriate place," she said. -- Bridget Hall Grumet can be reached at 860-7303 or bhall@sptimes.com.
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